News 360<sup></sup>- Briefs

Thousands of workers in Nigeria protested in mid-May the proposed deregulation of the oil sector.

The government in February said it would deregulate the downstream oil sector, which deals with refining of crude oil for domestic consumption. It is managed by the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. The government had also announced its intention to end subsidies saying it could no longer bear the 640 billion naira (US $4.34 billion) a year spent on subsidies.